All great leaders look for continuous improvements. Improvements in their business, their staff and most of all in themselves.

Have you ever experienced your child doing something that is irritating? Did you ever notice that irritating act and then realize they copied it from you? I have realized this too many times.

One thing that separates good leaders from great leaders is the ability of self-relfection.

Too many people go around clueless to how they are treating people or communicating with people. If you dont realize what you are doing or saying, how can you make improvements?

Some people surround themselves with others that will be brutally honest and tell them. But most leaders must learn to be self-relfective. There are 5 steps to go through in order to self-reflect.

Listen to what you are saying. It is simple to turn into the Incredible Hulk, lose control and say things you dont mean to say. Choose your words carefully.

Listen to how you are saying things. You can use the same words and they can be heard in many different ways. It’s All About The Delivery!

Pay attention to the reactions of others. Was it what you intended or were you surprised? Obviously, being surprised should be a flag to you and moving to Step 4 with it is critical for making improvements.

Relfect on your interactions with people and decide if you could or should have handled it differently. This is the 2nd most important step of self reflection.

Decide to handle similar situations differently the next time

How do you self-reflect?

Keep your eyes open. Inspiration can come from anywhere.

This post was inspired by my own continuous desire for improvement. I often coach others about self-awareness and it starts with self-reflection

I was honored and excited to be asked to write a blog post to our corporate blog. All of the previous posts were by our creative staff, which were very good and also very different from what I write. As I thought about what to write I was inspired by an article I read in the Wall Street Journal. From there, Imagination IS Innovation was born. I hope you enjoy.

Most com­pa­nies claim they are inno­v­a­tive. The word is used in com­pa­nies’ names. It is used in describ­ing their ser­vices. It is also used when describ­ing their peo­ple. But what is it that leads to these claims? [read more]